


Under Guard

by alltoseek



Series: Going Under [2]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode Related, Episode: s03e01 On Guard, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-16 22:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10580517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltoseek/pseuds/alltoseek
Summary: “The hell, Burke?” said Hughes. “Let me get this straight. The address of and the key that unlocked the treasure were at Caffrey’s place. Seems cut-and-dried to me. But now you’re saying that he’s innocent?”A continuation into s03e01 "On Guard" of an alternate ending to "Under the Radar". Sequel toUnder the Scope.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, many thanks to my betas feroxargentea and alcyone for rendering this fic actually readable.

“Agent Burke!”

Hughes’ stern call brought Peter’s focus back from his thousand-yard stare. He looked around the conference room table, expectant faces looking back at him (except Hughes’, which was more peeved than expectant).

“He didn’t do it,” said Peter. 

~~~

“What?” Elizabeth was puzzled. “But you had this whole explanation why he must have.”

Peter strode through the living room, shaking his forearm through the air, finger pointing. “You made some good arguments, though, about why he might not be guilty.”

El’s frown deepened. “You mean that he might have been framed?”

He shook his head. “No, no, not that. Something else you said.”

~~~

“The  _ hell, _ Burke?” Hughes was beyond peeved and into flat-out pissed. “Let me get this straight. The address of and the key that unlocked the treasure were at Caffrey’s place. Seems cut-and-dried to me. But now you’re saying that he’s  _ innocent?” _

Peter sighed. “I know it looks bad. But…” He paused again, gathering his thoughts. “Here’s the thing. When Neal’s in on a scam, he thinks fast on his feet. He’s got an answer, or deflection, or, or --  _ something _ \-- for any question, any circumstance. But in this case he didn’t.”

“He played innocent, Peter. He’s conning you.”

“That’s just it -- he’s  _ not _ playing innocent. He’s not saying  _ anything at all _ . He’s completely clammed up. He’s allowed himself to be put back in holding - no protestations, no arguments, nothing. Hasn’t even tried to escape.”

~~~

“So how does that mean he’s not guilty?” Elizabeth was as skeptical as Hughes had been. Which was odd, considering she’d been the one defending Neal. But one of El’s traits that Peter most appreciated was how she challenged him, kept him thinking. She never let him grow complacent.

“When Neal’s running a con, he’s in his element. He’s cheerful, walking on air, nothing can touch him. But now he’s -- he’s miserable. Stone-faced. All his conman skills -- he’s using none of them. He’s just angry.”

“Because he got caught. Because you caught him.”

“No. No. This isn’t how he’d be -- this isn’t how he is when he gets caught. He’d have a backup plan -- and another contingency plan for that. He’d have justifications, rationalizations -- he’d talk circles around us.”

“So what do silence and anger mean?”

“They mean he doesn’t know what’s going on either.”

~~~

Hughes sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Fine. Let’s assume Caffrey was somehow  _ not _ in on a plan, despite having the address and the key.”

“That’s one of my concerns -- we don’t know that Neal was ever in possession of the card and key. We found them lying in the open on his table. He’d never have left them there if the theft had been arranged before he last left his apartment. He wouldn’t have kept the card at all, and the key -- it looks just like a regular door key. He could have had it with his other keys and we wouldn’t have noticed.”

“You did interview everyone else who had access to Caffrey’s apartment.”

“Everyone we could find.”

“So you’re thinking…” 

~~~

“... Mozzie?” said Elizabeth. “Yesterday you were saying that they must have been in on it together.”

“Right, right. But now I’m thinking that you might be right -- that Moz could’ve set it up on his own, or with Alex, and the card and key were them telling Neal about it.”

“Except that you thought Mozzie would never plan anything this big without Neal helping.” 

Peter sighed. “Yeah, Neal and Moz are practically joined at the hip.”

El stifled a giggle.

“What?” asked Peter.

El chuckled. “Mozzie would say the same about Neal and you.”

Peter opened and shut his mouth a couple of times. “I guess we have joint custody.”

They both laughed at the thought of poor Neal, split between Mozzie and Peter.

~~~

“Basically what you’re saying is the evidence against Caffrey is circumstantial.”

Peter nodded in agreement with his boss. “Yes. Look, we don’t have enough to press new charges against him. We should keep him out on his deal -- we can keep a closer eye on him.”

Hughes narrowed his eyes skeptically. “If we could watch Caffrey that closely, he wouldn’t have been able to move the treasure.”

“And maybe he didn’t,” pressed Peter.  “We also know that he can escape prison anyway; the deal gives him a reason to stay.”

“Or makes it easier to run.”

“Except he hasn’t before, so why would he now, if the pressure is off?”

Hughes opened his mouth for a rebuttal, then paused. “Good point. He doesn’t have a treasure to run off with, since we recovered it. If we’re not pressing new charges against him -- without more evidence, at least -- then he doesn’t have much reason to run.”

“Exactly.”

Hughes looked relieved, or at least not as irritated as he’d been. “That’s perhaps just as well, because we have a new case we could use Caffrey on: David Lawrence, suspected of stealing sixty million dollars.”

Peter smiled and headed out of Hughes’ office. 

“Wait!” called Hughes. Peter turned back. “For this case only. We’ll see how it goes. Anything suspicious on Caffrey’s part...”

Peter nodded. “Agreed.”

**~*~oOo~*~**

 

Neal was still clearly unhappy as he was led into the interview room at the MCC.

Peter ventured a smile. “Hey, I’ve got good news.”

Neal’s blank, bored expression didn’t change.

Peter took a deep breath and tried again. “We want to reinstate your deal. Or continue it, I should say. It was never technically rescinded.”

“Let me think about it,” said Neal, flatly. He cast his eyes up to the ceiling. “Mmm… no,” he said, staring back at Peter.

Peter huffed. “What the hell, Neal? You really want to do this?” He spread out his arms to encompass the prison. “If you go back, you’ll have to be in administrative segregation. You really want to live in solitary for two and a half years?”

Neal didn’t respond.

Peter stood up, turned to circle around the small room, rubbing his face. “What is it, Neal? Tell me: What’s going on?”

Neal looked away, appearing to actually consider the question. “I don’t know how to work the deal without being a team.”

Peter shook his head slightly, puzzled. “We are a team.”

Neal shook his head firmly. “No. I thought we were too, but a team doesn’t work without trust. There’s no trust, Peter. I can’t do this without it. I can’t -- I can’t work for you, and watch my own back at the same time. I need to know that you and -- and Clinton, and Diana, the whole team -- that you’ll have my back.”

Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Jesus, Neal, when have we not?!” he exploded. “That whole fiasco with Fowler - you  _ shot _ at him, Neal! You should have been back in prison for that, with a slew of new charges, but we covered for you, kept you out!”

“And when anything goes wrong, I’m the first person you blame!” Neal shouted back.

“That’s because you usually are!”

“The pink diamond? That I went into prison for? After Ka-- after the plane exploded, and I went back again? Those were  _ my _ fault?!”

“That wasn’t my doing!”

“It wasn’t -- It was  _ your _ fault Kate was killed!”

Peter abruptly sat down, stunned. “What? How the hell was that  _ my _ fault?”

Neal was shaking, eyes shiny with tears. “The last thing Kate said on the phone was ‘Peter Burke is here’. That’s when Adler pulled the trigger -- caused the explosion. Because  _ you _ were there. And you had no right! I had - Kate and I had - legal documents from OPR, and you didn’t even have your badge! You couldn’t force me to stay -- you shouldn’t have been there!”

Peter gaped. “There’s no way I could have known that would happen. Whatever Fowler was doing, it was hardly legal. You were making a huge mistake. I just wanted to -- I couldn’t have known--”

Neal sighed, dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his face and eyes. “I know, I know. I don’t really blame you. It was all Adler. Fowler, Kate, me - we were all just... just puppets.”

“Where is all this coming from?” Peter asked. His anger had faded as quickly as it had erupted, along with Neal’s, who sat slumped and drained.

Neal looked up and away. His eyes were red, his face pale and drawn. “Just, resentment, I suppose.” He shrugged. “There’s not a lot to do here.”

“Another reason for you to come back on the deal. Give you something to do, places to go…”

“People to be.” They both chuckled weakly. But when the chuckles died out, Neal was as unhappy as ever, looking down and away, tired.

“Look, Neal, when the art was suddenly gone, I didn’t - I didn’t want to believe it, you understand? We’d worked so hard, gone through so much, and then it was - it was just gone. I…”

“You…?” Neal prompted. He was looking at Peter, a slight frown in his eyes.

Peter sighed. “I wasn’t at my best, all right? The explosion shook all of us, right, and we came running over, and I expected -- well, there you were, right in the middle of it.”

Neal huffed, smiling slightly.

“At least you weren’t hurt - yet - but there was Adler, pointing a gun…” continued Peter.

“And you shot him.”

“Yeah. It was a justified shooting, and I don’t regret it, but between killing a man, and the explosion, and losing the treasure…”

“You were under a lot of stress.”

“Yeah. Well, we all were. It’s not an excuse, I know--”

“You’re not at your best when situations go south.”

Peter rubbed his face with one hand. “Not then I wasn’t, no. Not -- emotionally.”

“I remember when Pierce got away -- the woman with the jade elephants -- you blamed me for that, too.”

“Yeah, okay, I see what you mean. We do - we need to have more trust. Both ways. It’s not like you’ve been completely innocent all this time,” Peter pointed out.

Neal was silent a moment. “So, putting me back on the anklet, that’s to, what? Gather more evidence against me?”

“No! Of course not. Look, if I really thought you’d done it, I wouldn’t be letting you out at all.”

Neal frowned, confused. “You were convinced I was entirely to blame. Now you think I’m innocent?”

“Yeah,” Peter said firmly. “Yeah, I do.”

“I don’t understand, Peter. I really don’t.”

“I think it was Mozzie, or Alex, or the two of them. I’ll be honest with you about that. Someone left the address and key for you, and only a friend of yours would do that.” He held up a hand when Neal tried to speak. “I’m not going to ask you to tell me anything about them, or implicate them, or create a sting -- nothing like that. I know you are too loyal. I value that loyalty. Hell, I value what Mozzie has done for us in the past. 

“But if we find evidence against Mozzie or Alex, we’ll pursue it, and we won’t involve you. We won’t keep you in the loop on the investigation either, obviously.”

Neal nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Though as far as I’m concerned, you’re not a suspect.”

“If you suspect Mozzie, why not me?”

Peter smiled. “You wanna know why? Because you  _ are _ at your best when situations go south.”

Neal was even more confused. “What? What do you mean?”

“When I accused you, you were angry and upset. When I arrested you, you were silent - angry and bitter. That’s not you. Not when you’re running some scheme. When you have all the cards, you play with confidence, you’re calm. You always know exactly what to say or do, even when circumstances turn upside down.

“If you were really a part of the theft, when I interrogated you, you wouldn’t have been silent, you would have been distracting us, playing on our friendship, misleading us - anything. But not this angry silence.”

Neal digested that for a moment. “You do realize that now I know exactly how to act around you when-  _ if _ I should be guilty of something,” he said with his trademark grin.

“Now there’s the Neal I know and --”

“And?” Neal smirked.

“Love to solve cases with. C’mon, we’ve got a good one. Sixty million stolen from the Federal Reserve.”

“David Lawrence.” Neal sat back. “But that was years ago and then he skipped town.”

“Well, he’s back. And he’s looking for one Gary Rydell.”

“Gary.” Neal’s smile grew wistful. “I always liked him; he was fun. Don’t suppose the FBI’s got any fast, expensive cars Gary can drive?”

Peter snorted. “So you can wreck them? No, don’t think so.”

Neal grinned. “So, ready to spring me?”

Peter took a deep breath. “Just need one thing from you.”

Neal’s smile disappeared and his eyes grew wary.

“I need you to tell me what you do know about the treasure--” he forestalled Neal with a raised hand, “even if that’s nothing.”

Neal’s eyes hardened. “I already told you. You didn’t believe me.”

“Look, Jones will run a polygraph, I’ll ask the questions, and you can tell us all the nothing you know, and then I have something to show Hughes, all right?”

Neal’s mouth twisted. “So I’m supposed to believe this is FBI busywork, dotting i’s and crossing t’s; but really you just want another shot at tripping me up.”

“Neal.” Peter put his hands palm down on the table, tilted his head. “If you are innocent, I can’t possibly ‘trip you up’, correct? And if you’re not…,” he said, dismayed at the thought, “then you should stay in here.”

“Just be honest with me here, Peter. Is this rigamarole really for Hughes, or is it for you?” Neal leaned forward, looking straight at Peter. “Do you or don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you.” Peter projected his sincerity with an open and serious expression. “The investigation needs the interview with you. You are linked to the theft, even if you didn’t plan or participate in it. We have to have your statement.”

Neal sighed. “Fine, then. But you’re buying me decent coffee first.”

Peter grinned. “You’re on.”

**~*~oOo~*~**

 

Neal was beginning to regret agreeing. This was more tedious than prison life. The same questions, over and over, with minor changes in phrasing.

“This doesn’t inspire any faith that you actually believe me,” he said. “Not to mention any halfway intelligent child can tell what you’re doing.”

Peter gave a grim smile. “You’d be surprised how many supposedly clever criminals end up acting less intelligent than the average child.” He sighed. “Look, I know this is tiresome, but it’s a process, okay? Bear with me. Hughes will see we’ve been through it, and then we can move on.”

Neal blew out a long breath. “All right. But I need another coffee.”

Peter smiled. "That I can do. Jones?" he asked, standing up.  


"Please." Clinton glanced at Neal. "It's pretty dull on this side of the questioning, too."

Peter narrowed his eyes in a mild glare at Jones as he headed for the door.

“And a croissant!” called Neal. He glanced back at Clinton. "Make that two!"  


**~*~oOo~*~**

 

Finally Peter was satisfied and Neal was free to head back to his apartment. June greeted him at the door. He flashed a brilliant smile at her, so happy to see her again, be home again; but his smile faded as he saw how somber she was.

“Neal,” she said, arms crossed and frowning, “I’m very disappointed in you. Nazi loot? How could you?”

Neal opened his mouth but no words came out.

“I know who you are,” she continued, “What you are. But I thought there were some lines you wouldn’t cross. I know you have a moral compass, even if it doesn’t line up with the law. So I don’t understand -- profiting from the plunder of war victims? How do you even -- no, never mind.” She dropped her arms, then raised one hand to her forehead as she turned away.

“I - I’m sorry,” said Neal, at a loss. He felt his eyes sting.

June turned back. “You know we are all now suspects? I, my staff, my friends -- anyone who had been to the house. We’ve been questioned and interrogated. I had to face Agents Berrigan and Jones while they all but accused me of conspiring to steal treasure stolen by Nazis! As if I --” she cut herself off.

“That’s - that’s not right. June, I’m so sorry --”

“I’m sorry, too, Neal.” She looked at him, profoundly sad. “Agent Burke says they need your help with a new case. You can stay here while you’re working on it, but after that I want you to move out.” Her eyes were sorrowful, but her lips set firm.

Neal nodded his understanding. He didn’t think he could speak. 

Upstairs, he sank into a chair, elbows on the table, his head dropping into his hands. Eventually he rubbed his hands through his hair and sat up. His eyes felt gritty. He got up, dug out a suitcase, and began packing. 

Mozzie walked in from the patio. “Oh, good,” he said. “You’re already packing.” He rubbed his hands together, grinning gleefully. 

“What do you mean?” asked Neal, angry and confused. “What’s good about this?!”

Mozzie indicated the hula doll sitting on the table. In his misery, Neal hadn’t noticed it. “I have a plane lined up to take us to the island.”

“What are you talking about? What island?”

“Any island you like, mon frère,” said Moz, laughing, gesturing expansively. “You don’t think I kept the whole treasure in one place, do you?”

Slowly, the angry confusion lifted from Neal’s face and a puckish smirk grew wide in its place.


	2. Chapter 2

At the office the next day, Neal was his usual chipper self. He leaned back in his chair, feet on the desk, tossing the rubber band ball up in the air. “I bet when Lawrence contacts Gary Rydell, he’ll suggest meeting at the Gramercy Fencing Club.”

Peter frowned. “Why there? You can’t just meet at a bar?”

Neal grimaced. “And talk moving sixty million over a couple of Bud Lights with the game blaring in the background?”

Peter shrugged. “Why not? Provides a decent cover.”

Neal snorted. “Assuming you could hear yourself think, let alone what the other has to say. No, Lawrence fancies himself a bit classier than that. As does Gary, of course.”

“‘Of course’,” mimicked Peter,  _ sotto voce. _

“Why the Gramercy Club specifically?” asked Jones.

Neal replied, “Because besides fast cars, Gary likes --”

“Illegal deals in pre-Columbian artifacts,” Peter interrupted.

Neal frowned at Peter.  _ “Fencing. _ And so does Lawrence. When I think Gary and Lawrence, I think --”

This time Diana interrupted: “Smuggling ill-gotten goods?”

Neal heaved a great sigh and slumped. “I’m gone for one day and suddenly no respect.” He raised his head and grinned at his friends.

~~~

 

Later, Peter got in another laugh at Neal’s sliced tie, which the erstwhile fencer took in uncharacteristically bad grace. 

But when Diana showed her boss the manifest that ERT had recovered from the burned warehouse, Peter wasn’t laughing either. “This list contains paintings that we didn’t recover from the Gansevoort site.”

Diana nodded. 

“God _ dammit!” _ Peter swore. 

~~~

 

“I don’t understand,” said El, her nose wrinkling in that way that Peter found irresistibly adorable. “So some of the art burned up after all, while the rest was moved to Gansevoort?”

Peter shook his head. “All the burned fragments ERT has tested are modern - post World War two. Besides, all the art and treasure were loaded into one eighteen-wheeler. It would have been much easier to steal one pre-loaded truck than to split up the lot and leave some of it behind.”

“And the only purpose for leaving some behind would be to have traces of the original works be found, so the assumption would be that it all burned,” El reasoned. “Then there’d be no need to substitute modern canvases. I see what you mean.”

“There’s more of the art still out there,” he said. “The thieves didn’t split the treasure beforehand, but they certainly did afterwards.”

“And so Neal’s still on the hook.”

Peter nodded glumly.

**~*~oOo~*~**

 

Neal’s murdered tie may have been an omen for even worse to come, because when Jones got made no one at all was laughing.

Peter was plenty happy that Caffrey’s quick thinking kept Jones alive, but Mozzie ‘coincidentally’ having an airplane on hand at thirty minutes’ notice was suspicious enough to trigger Hughes’ requirement that Neal go back in lock-up.

“When we stop that plane,” Peter told Diana, “arrest Neal as Gary Rydell, along with the others.”

Diana shot him a quick glance. “You want to maintain his cover?”

Peter didn’t respond, just held on grimly as they swerved in front of the aircraft.

~~~

 

Both Neal and Jones were surprised at “Rydell’s” arrest, but they were also smart enough not to break cover. “Gary” protested a bit, but that was in character for the alias.

Mozzie, however, was livid. He waited until Lawrence’s crew were secured in the Fed vehicles, then unleashed on Peter: “So you’re sending Neal back to prison, just like that?! He catches the bad guy, finds the money, saves your agent’s bacon and then you return him to his cell? What do you think he is - a doll you can wind up when you want to play with it and then lock in the cupboard when you’re done?!”

Peter had no patience for the conman’s blustering. “Come off it, Moz, we both know you were in on the theft of the treasure - why else would you have an airplane all set to go? You’d planned to load up the rest of the treasure on it.”

Mozzie acted deeply offended. “Hey! When Neal says, ‘I need a hammer’ I bring him a hammer. When he says, ‘I need an airplane’ I bring him an airplane! That’s what partners do - I know how a true partnership works.”

Peter glared. “Don’t you start --”

“And what’s more,” Mozzie interrupted, “since you can’t seem to do your job, which is to find out who really took the treasure, I will be figuring that out. Because that is what true partners do for each other - they have each other’s back. Like Neal had Jones’s. Unlike how you  _ don’t _ have Neal’s. But I do. You wait, Suit, you’ll see - I’ll catch the real thief here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapter. Story arc to be continued in the next fic in this series, "Under Way". The first chapter of that should be up soon.


End file.
